Nothing like a warm June evening for a walk along the beach after the visitors have gone. I never cease to wonder at the cleansing power of the six-hourly rhythm of the tide to refresh all. Further landslips arising from the winter’s storms will add to this rock pile soon, creating more coves as the coastline is resculpted before our eyes.

After much hard work, often in grim wet conditions, the new wall of local stone with its subtle hues of honey, greys and blues, is now finished.  The winter’s rain has resulted in an abundance of glorious roses like the prolific pink carpet roses which have already grown into the space, boisterously spilling over to reach for the new shingle path.

And there is much more; June’s first blooms include my favourite carmine red climbing rose, a laid-back apricot rose shrub rose, and a muddle of barbie pink and white roses that hug the oversized and now misshapen Buxus ‘ball’.

And delicate self-seeded poppies just grow in any old place.

Over in the west end garden, the new veggie planters have been filled with compost and seeds. The first crop of chard, beets, radishes, and courgettes is ready. Next will come the beans, lettuces, spinach, carrots, spuds and outdoor tomatoes. And next month, we will sow the onion, parsnip and pepper seeds. Having finished the marathon read of Middlemarch, cultivating veggies is now my obsession.

The long miserable winter’s blasting storms are a distant memory as we now have so much to enjoy. All that rain is now invested in the flourishing greens and self-seeded plants that line the lower garden path and the steps down to the house.

I promise to do some book work next month! Come back in four weeks to check progress on gang warfare at Angie’s – a block buster in the vein of the Godfather.